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As elsewhere in Europe, the First World War divided the Balkan countries in winners and defeated. In the decades to follow, they tried to achieve reconciliation under the strong impact of the Pan-European movement. Attempts at improving relations with the neighbours and at searching for effective solutions of the common problems brought about an unprecedented atmosphere in the region. The efforts to inaugurate a new era of regional integration and to institutionalize it culminated in the Balkan Conferences (1930 – 1933) which involved Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. In the course of their work, Greece and Bulgaria represented two different views on the rapprochement being proponent of two different approaches to the issue. They emphasized the framework and the content of the idea of regional cooperation respectively considering their divergent strategic interests.
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The paper presents a survey of the relations between the Orthodox Church of Bulgaria and the Church of Greece over the second half of the 20th century. It is not a very long, but politically complex and in any case important period, when next to the old divisions between the two neighboring peoples occurs a new one – the political affiliation of the governing class. The author tries to show that these were relationships that often remained outside the public eye – i. e. outside the attention of state institutions and public media, but they were a vital part of the real life of our two peoples – Bulgarian and Greek. With concrete names and facts is shown the contribution of clergymen from both countries to preparing and developing relationships that promote good neighborly relations in the new political conditions after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
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The article will dealt with three different ways to interpret the announcement of the Schism against the Bulgarian Exarchate on behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1872: a “modern”, a “pre-modern”, a “post-modern”. The latter’s supporters proposed to understand the ecumenical ideology of the Patriarchate as “crypto-nationalist” gesture, completely justified by the ultimate goals of the Greek irredentism of the late 19th century, overlooking the identification of the Patriarchate’s elite with the Ottoman state as well as the internal conflicts for hegemony between different interest groups which many times had been connected with the other side (radicals and moderates of the Bulgarian community) · the “post-modern” model tried to replace directly the “pre-modern” approach which interpreted the Schism as an expression of the very essence of the ecumenism of the Patriarchate reminding the simultaneous condemnation of the “ethnophyletism”, that means of the ideology of nationalism, which was threatening the unity of the Christian Orthodox ecumene. However both of the above interpretations suffer by internal logical misunderstandings: if the latter takes as given the ecumenical ideology of the Patriarchate ignoring the “alienating” character of the nationalism which subjugated and used instrumentalized versions of the old religions, the former read the incorporation of the rival nationalism as a liberating action of challenging the argumentation of his own nationalism! My argumentation defends a “modern” approach where the nationalist conflicts and the hegemony competition should be de-codified through the analysis of the power relations between different interest and status groups, not only in the Patriarchate but also in the bosom of the Bulgarian Exarchate.
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Post-modernity as an EU export to the western Balkans is a welcome concept for the conflict-ravaged region. Sel-determination of the states will not depend entirely on foreign pressure but requires the motivation of each society separately. To attain post-modernity the Balkans must resolve their modern conflicts and temper their nationalisms. They must also develop their own civil-societes.
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The article discusses events related to continuous efforts by the Bulgarian Church in the 1930s to establish the “Bulgarian ecclesiastical hostel for lay people in the Holy Sepulchre”, aiming at assisting and serving Bulgarian pilgrims who visited the Holy Land, and at the same time stressing the Bulgarian presence in Jerusalem. These efforts coincided with the discussions on the lift of the Bulgarian Schism during 1932 in Jerusalem by the Vicar of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Bishop of Ptolemais Keladion, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the Bishop of Stobia Boris, Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Church. Despite the failure of the negotiations between the two sides, considerable funds were raised for this purpose from donations among the Bulgarian people. Subsequent political changes in Bulgaria, however, finally removed any rights on the part of the Holy Synod to establish the hostel in Jerusalem.
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The paper discussed the fact that the internationalization and integration processes hide a real danger for a new division in Europe, where in the course of time the Balkan region will form the new European economic periphery. The role that the macro-geographical factor plays for the establishment of this new regional economic phenomenon is observed. It is outlined why the only possible and feasible option for Balkan countries to attempt to reduce or offset the disadvantages of their peripheral location or isolation should be implemented by developing regional cooperation among those countries. The understanding that cross-border cooperation can be accepted as an “optimal” policy for the time being is defended. The main advantages and obstacles for implementing regional and cross-border cooperation are discussed. Finally some policy implications and conclusions are presented.
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